Uncharted 2: Among Thieves UKReview

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Nathan Drake stars in this year's most charming adventure.

By Martin Robinson

Spielberg might have strapped our generation's foremost action icon into a fridge and nuked him to a land beyond credibility, but it matters not a jot. We've got a new matinee idol, his demeanour as charismatic as any of cinema's leading men and his adventures as sumptuous as anything we've seen on the silver screen.

Step forward Nathan Drake, star of Uncharted and its breathtaking follow-up Among Thieves, a game that sets a new benchmark for cinematic console romps. This is a sequel set in that traditional mould; bigger, bolder and most importantly better, trumping first outing Drake's Fortune in nearly every regard and firmly establishing Nathan Drake as the PlayStation 3's most alluring mascot.

A snowbound car-chase, just one of the game's astounding set-pieces.

Ditching the single location set-up of 2007's game, Among Thieves takes a bold non-linear slant as a jump-off point for a journey that leaps between time and place with an infectious enthusiasm. It opens in spectacular style, establishing a sense of wonder that never diminishes and setting up a pace that never lets up as Drake wakes semi-comatose in a train that dangles precariously off a snow-covered cliff-top.

What follows is one of the most spectacular tutorials to have ever preceded a game, with Drake clambering up the side of a carriage that buckles and wheezes under the player's movements, offering an introduction to Among Thieves' gentle platforming mechanics in the most exhilarating way possible.

It's as fine an example as any of the brilliant balance between gameplay and cinematics that's been struck by developer Naughty Dog, who again displays the lightest of touches in bringing Nate's story to life. This time out he's in search of the mythical kingdom of Shambhala and the wish fulfilling Cintimani Stone it houses, following in the footsteps of Marco Polo as he once followed the trail of Francis Drake.

Excuse us for going all homoerotic, but Nate's wet t-shirt is something to behold.

A war-mongering pantomime villain's all-consuming desire for the artefact provides the tale's requisite race against time and, while it's standard action fare, the delivery consistently astounds. Nolan North, who is fast becoming the voice of videogaming, puts in his best turn yet as Drake, his winsome charm ably backed up by an equally impressive supporting cast, with returning favourites bolstered by blistering performances from Steve Valentine as cockney Harry Flynn and Stargate SG-1's Claudia Black as new beau Chloe Frazer.

Their talents are matched by some of the best digital actors this side of Pixar, with character tics and movement conveyed with uncanny fluidity. All of this is fuelled by writing that puts most other videogame efforts to shame, the dialogue crackling with a Howard Hawks-esque wit and the betrayals, double-crosses and pitfalls coming at a rate steady enough to always command your attention.

Among Thieves' cast may be the stars in the conventional sense, but it's the locations that frequently steal the show. The new globe-trotting agenda acts as an excuse for a conveyor belt of breath-taking backdrops, stretching from the humid jungles of South America (a setting that's reminiscent of Drake's Fortune's, but that's more sumptuously told this time out), to war-torn Eastern European streets and through to Uncharted 2's stock in-trade, temples whose interiors glisten with gold and ruins that crumble convincingly around the player.

The variety of locations is impressive, taking in icy caves as well as more typical temples and jungles.

As ever, the devil's in the detail and it's all too easy to stall Amongst Thieves' breakneck tempo by trying to drink it all in, whether it's the debris that shores streets fresh from a gunfight or some of the simpler pleasures. A swimming pool that's found during a rooftop scramble proves too tempting to ignore, and Naughty Dog encourages such playful detours – frolic in the pool and it's kindly provided a sound bite for Drake, who calls out to his AI partner. Indeed, in one of the game's virtuoso set-pieces, it guides players along a peaceful stroll through a mountaintop village, its inhabitants treating Drake with a wide-eyed awe as he stumbles through their brilliantly realised home.

Not all its set-pieces are so sedate, however, and Among Thieves' biggest thrills come when Naughty Dog is at the controls. A helicopter chase that brings buildings to their knees, a train-top fight that violently winds its way to the snow-capped peak and a frantic alleyway escape from a marauding jeep are just some of the highlights of a game that sprinkles its twelve hour running time with a generous helping of adrenaline spikes.